Will universities be able to respond to the changing and evolving needs of society towards lifelong learning and continuing education?
Lifelong learning is not about accumulating degrees, but engaging in bite-size and timely learning to upgrade and learn specific skills. Yet, it has been said that the model of campuses, tenured faculty and so on does not work
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well for short courses. (The Economist, 2017b) Traditional university fac-ulty have other priorities in long-term research work, and hence, academic institutions may struggle to deliver fast-moving content. Contrast this with non-academic institutions like Pluralsight, which uses a model similar to that of book publishing; it employs a network of 1,000 experts to produce and refresh its library of videos on IT and creative skills. These experts get royalties based on how often their content is viewed; its highest earner pulled in $2 million last year. Such rewards provide an incentive for authors to keep updating their content. (The Economist, 2017b) Universities are, however, not structured along such incentives. Tenured faculty are usually far more concerned (and rightfully so) with achieving breakthroughs in their research area and to build their reputation within the field, than with thinking about the vocational lifelong learning needs of their students.
On a more positive note, technology will bring about many new opportu-nities for universities to design and deliver lifelong learning programs. With flipped classrooms, constraints such as locality and scheduling no longer exist. Learning of materials can take place offline and physical class sessions can be allocated to discussion and problem-solving. Technology will also allow learning to become increasingly social and interactive. With MOOCs, the institution’s potential for scale and reach to new learners is immense.
As lifelong learning course offerings will have to be developed to meet market and industry needs, a shift to engage in lifelong learning may bring academic institutions and industry closer, and, through the course of con-sultation and collaboration, the nexus between research, education and industry can be strengthened in a positive and mutually beneficial way.
Industry developments can inform research, and vice-versa; education can be enhanced with industry relevance. Novel modes of industry training and internship may also evolve.
Some universities may opt to segregate lifelong learning and traditional undergraduate degree course offerings. NUS on the other hand, is experi-menting with assimilating lifelong learners with undergraduate and postgrad-uate programs, in a mixed classroom setting. We believe that adult lifelong learners can enrich the classroom experience as they bring with them val-uable life and career experiences and mature perspectives; lifelong learners bring an opportunity for diversity and cross-learning in the classroom.
So far, no traditional research-intensive university is engaged in lifelong learning in a concerted and comprehensive way, or as a core mission. NUS is perhaps bold and innovative in this regard, as our institution aims to be an important lifelong learning institution in Singapore and the region. In 2018, NUS initiated a Lifelong Learners’ program, which is the first in any university around the world, where all NUS graduates will enjoy automatic enrolment into all of our continuing education programs for 20 years. By
2020, NUS is aiming to offer 20,000 continuing education places annually, and this can potentially benefit our nearly 300,000 alumni. The range of courses and modules will be comprehensive, but there will be an emphasis on offering skills-based industry-relevant programs.
In conclusion, lifelong learning presents tremendous opportunities for tra-ditional research-intensive universities to contribute directly to a growing and pressing societal and economic need. While universities are evolving to become more engaged in lifelong learning, whether it be through dedi-cated continuing education units, or experimenting with Coursera and other MOOCs, or innovating their own models, we need to acknowledge that anticipating future trends, embodying the mindset of lifelong learning, and providing access to lifelong learning demands a complex system involving multiple stakeholders. This goes beyond universities extending the reach of their programs from being front-loaded on undergraduates to delivering educational options to students of all ages. A whole ecosystem compris-ing governments helpcompris-ing citizens to understand future job markets and the skills they will require, and financial incentives to support skills upgrading, employers that create work environments that support lifelong learning, are all necessary to bring about this societal shift to stay relevant and competi-tive through lifelong learning.
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